Mt. Carmel too strong for SDA

The boys and girls teams of Mt. Carmel School proved too much for host Seventh Day Adventist in the 2009 Coalition of Private Schools Sports Association basketball league.

The visiting Knights outgunned and out-rebounded the undermanned SDA boys on Tuesday to score a 48-11 win, their third in four starts this season.

Champions in 2007, the Knights opened their campaign with a 33-15 win over the Grace Christian Academy Eagles on Jan. 22 then followed this up with another 33-15 triumph over Calvary Christian Academy on Jan. 27.

The Knights, however, absorbed a 22-43 defeat in the hands of Saipan International School on Jan. 29 then vented their ire on SDA, which was compounded by a depleted lineup.

MCS nicely shuffled its 12 heftier and quicker players, while SDA could not muster enough firepower from its seven players.

Big men Tomas Kautz and John Saludez finished in double figures, 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Knights, while Jonah Flores and Ken Taguchi added eight and six.

Three others—Ronnelson Alvarez, Andrew Kim, and Chris Mizer—had four points each.

Playmaker Tyler Palacios shot eight points to lead SDA, which remained winless after four games.

Vincent Iba and Aamir Shakir contributed four and two points for SDA, which earlier lost to CCA (15-36) on Jan. 22, to SIS (2-52) on Jan. 27, and to Saipan Community School (14-44) on Jan 29.

In the girls division, Mt. Carmel also easily defeated SDA, 27-18, to improve its record to 2-1, while dealing SDA girls their third loss in as many games.

The Lady Knights dropped their first assignment to GCA, 12-32, last Jan. 22 and won over SCS last Jan. 30, 42-35.

Vanessa Bortolo led the team with 14 points, while CNMI Junior National player Kaylani Lebria added 11 and Rachel Borja had two.

Also on Tuesday, the SCS Tsunamis won at home over the visiting CCA, 32-9.

The win was the Tsunamis’ second straight after bowing out to their rivals in their first two games this year. They lost to SIS, 3-54, last Jan. 22, and to GCA, 23-38, on Jan. 27 before finally barging into the win column with a 38-16 win at home over SDA.

CCA is now 1-3 after winning its first game against SDA. It then dropped its next three assignments to MCS, GCA, and SCS.

Justin Poon led the Tsunamis anew with 14, while James Ko finished with eight and Eron Constante had six.

Albert Lee and Ji Hoon Choi scored four points each for CCA, while Jin Han Yoon scored one from the free throw line.

SCS 32 – Poon 14, Ko 8, Constante 6, Kim 4, Tudela 0, Lam 0, Johnson 0.

CCA 9 – Lee 4, Ji 4, Jin 1, Perez 0, J. Fidelino 0, Valeros 0, M. Fidelino 0, Yue 0, Alamer 0.

Scoring by quarters: 6-1, 12-3, 18-7, 32-9.

MCS girls 27 – V. Bortolo 14, Lebria 11, Borja 2, A. Taylor 0, Yamada 0, Che 0, Naraja 0, Alvarez 0, Kautz 0, Demapan 0, Sabla 0, Sablan 0.

SDA girls 18 – D. Taylor 10, Richards 4, Mendiola 4, Jin 0, S. Taylor 0, Kim 0.

Scoring by quarters: 7-4, 15-8, 19-12, 27-18

MCS boys 48 – Kautz 12, Saludez 10, Flores 8, Taguchi 6, Alvarez 4, A. Kim 4, Mizer 4, T. Lee 0, Crisostomo 0, JW Kim 0, V. Lee 0, Aldan 0.

SDA boys 11 – Palacios 5, Iba 4, A. Shakir 2.

Scoring by quarters 10 -4, 20-4, 30-4, 48-11.